


Just for Today

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: BixFreed [14]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, Love, M/M, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-08-25 13:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16662131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Freed is always the one taking care of things...helping the guild with research, training, looking after his teammates and his partner, and that is the way he likes things. Falling ill and relying on others is something he hates more than anything, however, a certain Seith mage knows how to get around that stubbornness.





	Just for Today

   Bickslow knew something was wrong the moment he woke for two reasons. Firstly, was the fact that their bedroom was flooded with sunlight, meaning that it was relatively late in the morning, and the Rune mage was still fast asleep beside him. Freed had a complete inability to have lie-ins, even on mornings when they weren’t on a job and had absolutely nothing to do, he would be up at the crack of dawn and rushing around doing something. Anything - from sword practice, reading, to making something extra elaborate for breakfast if the mood took him or tidying the house; so the fact he could feel the younger man still curled up behind him immediately set alarm bells ringing.

   The second reason was that for once he seemed to have all of the covers, something that never happened because Freed was an unholy terror when it came to stealing them and more than once he had growled sleepily at the Seith mage when Bickslow had been trying to take even just a corner for himself. Today though he had material pooled around him and hanging over the side of the bed, and when he rolled over he discovered that Freed was completely uncovered. Looking at his face, it wasn’t hard to tell why either and the Seith mage sighed softly as he took in the unhealthily flushed cheeks and the sweat beading Freed’s forehead. Reaching out to gently feel the other’s forehead, eyes widening at the heat coming off of the Rune mage even as Freed unconsciously leant into the gentle touch.

_I knew it…_

   Freed had been unusually quiet the night before, and had seemed to be having trouble focusing on the research he was doing for Makarov. However, whenever Bickslow had asked if he was okay, he had brushed aside his concerns with a soft smile and a small nod and whilst he hadn’t been convinced the Seith mage hadn’t pushed the issue. The translation Freed was working on was important, and for the most part Freed did tend to know his own limits and respect them, although sometimes he did manage to forget everything when he was caught up in work and apparently this was one of those times.

“What am I going to do with you?” He muttered, moving his fingers away from the burning forehead and gently carding through green hair, stilling when the Rune mage stirred with a soft moan. Bickslow had always loved watching the younger man wake up even though he was rarely up early enough; turquoise eyes that were usually so alert and focused were soft and sleepy, and he would always stretch out, cat-like in a way before curling up against Bickslow for a moment longer before finally forcing himself up and out of bed. Today though Freed’s eyes barely made it open and he looked a little dazed, and he made no effort to stretch himself out before curling against Bickslow’s chest and clutching at him with a sleepy hum.

“Bix….”

“Hey,” Bickslow greeted softly, waiting until Freed managed to focus on him before asking softly. “How are you feeling?” That seemed to make the Rune mage come slightly more alert, and as he caught the lie forming in Freed’s eyes, he reached up and tapped him gently on the nose, well aware that the idiot was going to try and tell him he was fine and not to worry. “Don’t try lying to me.” Usually, he struggled to adopt a stern tone with Freed, mainly because normally he was the one in trouble, but he had learned years ago that was the only way to get through to the Rune mage when he was ill, and he merely arched an eyebrow when Freed pouted at being caught out so easily.

“Not great,” Freed admitted reluctantly, ducking his head to press it against Bickslow’s chest and feeling the sigh that rumbled through his partner. “Sorry…” He hated being ill with a passion, but he hated needing to rely on the others even more and that was why he had been desperately trying to ignore how unwell he had been feeling the night before. There was no ignoring it now, his head pounding fiercely and given how cool and soothing Bickslow’s chest felt against his face he knew he had a favour and he let out a miserable groan. The gentle sensation of fingers running his hair made him pull back enough to peer up at the Seith mage, startled when Bickslow met him midway, capturing his lips in a gentle kiss for a moment before Freed managed to push him away with a quiet protest. “You’ll get sick too…”

“I don’t care,” Bickslow declared, kissing him again before he could protest and moving up to kiss the end of Freed’s nose, before pulling back and adding sternly. “And you shouldn’t be apologising for being ill.” That was a battle he had long since given up on winning. Both he and Evergreen had lost count of the number of times they’d told him the same thing, and even Laxus had been known to grunt something along the same lines when he’d realised how much Freed worried about being ill. About being a burden…

“But…”

“You’ve been running yourself ragged recently,” the Seith mage pointed out sternly, as much as he loved Freed’s stubborn streak most of the time, at times like this he wished that it would take a rest. It was hard to argue with the Rune mage when he was peering at him with hazy eyes, clearly fighting the urge to just fall asleep again even as he tried to argue that he was fine. However, he knew that this was an argument that he was going to win, and he couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “But now you’re ill that means I’m in charge.”

“Bickslow…” Freed eyed the grin that spread across Bickslow’s face with more than a hint of wariness, well aware that the idiot had a tendency to go overboard when he was ill or injured. Well aware that was the Seith mage’s way of compensating for the fact that Freed was too independent-minded to let him pamper him at any other point. It was tempting to just give in, as he really did want nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep until his head no longer hurt so much, and it would be nice to be taken care of. But years of being responsible firstly for himself, and then for his teammates were hard to forget, and despite the urge to give in, he opened his mouth to argue some more.

“You’re not going to move from this bed today,” the declaration, and that was what it was. There was no hint that this was a choice, and Bickslow’s expression had a determined edge to it, although his grin had yet to disappear. Freed felt some of his defiance leeching away, not helped by the hand that had resumed trailing through his hair, something that Bickslow knew all too well would turn him to putty in his hands and he sighed before nuzzling into the petting hand, as he decided that just for once it wouldn’t be too bad to admit defeat.

“I won’t argue, but I do need the bathroom,” he admitted softly, becoming aware of the need that he was more alert and blushing slightly as the Seith mage gaped at him for a moment, apparently stunned by his submission. Really needing to go he gently began to ease himself away from Bickslow, wondering what the chances were of being able to get out of bed before his partner caught up to what was happening.  And he had barely moved an inch before strong arms were wrapped around him, and he couldn’t stop the startled yelp that escaped as he found himself being pulled up into a princess carry, and he protested loudly even as he grabbed hold of the Seith mage. “BICKSLOW! Put me down…” Freed trailed off, the abrupt movement had apparently upset his stomach as it gave a rather unpleasant jolt and he burrowed his face into Bickslow’s shoulder with a groan.

“Stop fighting,” Bickslow ordered, pausing for a moment as he guessed what had happened, resting his head briefly against the one buried into his shoulder before pressing a kiss into green hair and adding softly. “You've been busy with that translation all week, and yet you still found time to help us at the eight-ball café, work with Levy on her project, and you’ve still cooked and trained like normal. So today you’re going to do nothing, and let me look after you.” As much as he hated seeing Freed ill, especially as he knew how much it upset the younger mage, he did relish the fact that it gave him a chance to pamper Freed for once. As normally convincing him to let Bickslow take care of him was one hell of a battle and one that he rarely won.

“’Kay…” Freed mumbled once he was sure that he could speak without losing control of his stomach, lacking the energy or inclination to argue any more. He still felt bad for needing to be looked after, but hearing the list of what he had been doing did make it seem a little more acceptable, and he gratefully nuzzled into the older man. 'Just for today,’ he meant to say, knowing from experience that Bickslow would try and encourage him to rest for longer so that he had an excuse to carry on looking after him, but the words never came as Bickslow had resumed moving towards the bathroom and he found himself dozing off.

_Just for today…_


End file.
